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Pilot sacked for questioning airline safety
Nick Leys
From: <cite> The Daily Telegraph </cite>
November 26, 2010 12:00AM
Safety concerns ... pilot Joe Eakins / Pic: Brianne Makin Source: The Daily Telegraph
A JETSTAR pilot was sacked after publicly raising safety concerns about the airline.
The budget carrier dismissed Joe Eakins - who is also a union representative - after he wrote a piece for a website criticising a new pilot hiring scheme.
Internal records show Jetstar management sent an email to employees telling them about the sacking five minutes after it had sent the termination letter to Mr Eakins.
He was on a plane at the time, flying back from the disciplinary meeting, and so was told of his sacking by his colleagues.
Mr Eakins claimed a proposal to put pilots on contracts that would promote them on the basis of merit rather than seniority would compromise safety.
A spokesman Simon Westaway said Mr Eakins had breached company policy and brought the airline into disrepute.
